Christmas afternoon with the Graebers

Christmas afternoon we left Oxford and headed to Marks, MS to meet Eric's family at his Grandmother's house.  It is always so fun to see everyone- all of Eric's cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters come and bring their kids and dogs!  It is quite chaotic between children and pets but so much fun to all get together.  We played stingy santa then took the annual family picture.  We spent the night in Clarksdale Christmas night and had some great family time with Pop and GG and Eric's brothers and sisters.  This year was extra special after the scare we had last month with Jason.  He was in Clarksdale with us and is just a walking miracle...a constant reminder that God is good.

Santa came to our house!!!

Grafton was amazed by all the presents that Santa brought her on Christmas!  She walked into the den and just froze when she saw all the toys!  It was a perfect reaction.  Once she got over the shock, she played and played and played with her toys all morning.  DeeDee and Pops came over and Uncle Scott recorded the morning with the camcorder.  I feel like I am the luckiest mother in the world to have had such a special Christmas with sweet Grafton!  Here are some pictures from the morning...

1st Christmas Eve

Grafton had a fantastic 1st Christmas, beginning with a fun-filled Christmas Eve! We went to my parents house and Scott and his girlfriend came in town. DeeDee cooked a great dinner and Grafton entertained us all by laughing at us, talking to us, and eating in her high chair. It was as if she knew it was Christmas- she was just full of herself all night!! We opened our presents after dinner which Grafton loved! She had such a fun time with the wrapping paper and bows. She was trying to open all the gifts- whether they were hers or not! DeeDee and Pops went crazy with gifts (as usual) and little Grafton got very spoiled with toys and books and puzzles! Here are some pictures from the night!

Grafton Walking

I took a couple videos tonight of Grafton walking! She can take about 10 steps at a time before she falls down! She is getting better and better each day and gaining so much more confidence. I am so proud of our little monkey!

Our first step!!!

Grafton finally took her first official step today!!  I say "finally" because she has been crawling for 5 months now, loves to walk behind her push toys or holding our hands, but hasn't wanted to take a step by herself till today!  And, of course, even though I am the one with her at home all day every day....Eric is the one who saw her do it!!! So here is her track record- she said "dada" for her first word, crawled for Eric first, and now took a step for him first.....interesting.  I am so happy for her but a little scared of what our life may be like now as she gets a little more confidence with this walking stuff!

I didn't get a picture of the first step, but here are some afterwards.  She loves to stand at our back door and look outside! 

And here is a random one from the Ole Miss basketball game we went to yesterday.  Eric had just gotten back to Oxford from duck hunting, that is why he is decked out in camo.  Grafton was too busy watching the game to look at the camera!  She had a fun time with all the action, pooped out for an hour nap in the middle, then woke up for the last few minutes of the game!  Such a trooper!

Santa!!!

Poor Grafton had quite a traumatic experience with Santa on Saturday.  Our childrens' book store in town had Santa come and read "Twas the night before Christmas" to the kids during story hour and then took pictures with each child.  Grafton loved story hour but wasn't so sure about Santa himself!  The first picture is our first attempt....the other two pictures are from our 2nd attempt when we tried to lure her to Santa with a stuffed animal!  Still didn't work.  We are giving it one more shot in Memphis on Wednesday!

Monkeying around

Our little girl has developed such a personality - we call her our little monkey because she is just into everything, climbing over or in everything, and trying to figure out how everything works. Here are some pictures from a typical night at our house- playing in the kitchen, reading our books, and being silly of course!  Such a sweet little monkey :)

How we eat....

I just had to take a picture one day to document how we eat our meals.  When it comes time for Grafton to have a bite, the dogs quickly gather around and assume their positions under the high chair....just waiting for falling food!  Our dogs NEVER had human food until Miss G came around and now they get it daily.  Unfortunately Grafton thinks it is hilarious to dangle food in front of them!

11 Months Old!

Today is Grafton's 11 month birthday! It amazes me how quickly this year has gone by. Grafton is so much like a little girl now instead of a little baby.  She is all over the place and has so much energy! She stands by herself and every now and then tries to take a step but can't totally do it on her own. I just know any day it will happen!  She still loves her stuffed animals and dolls, plays with the dogs all the time, and wants to read ALL her books EVERY night!  She loves windows, stairs, bath tubs and mirrors. She still sleeps great (8 to 7/7:30) and eats bread, crackers, cereal, etc very well but not healthy stuff!  We are trying so hard to work on that!

Unfortunately, Grafton has her first ear infection (actual a double ear infection!) right now and a cold but is getting better and better each day.  She weighed 19.8 pounds (50 percentile) when I took her to the doctor on Monday. With all the crawling, climbing, trying to start walking, and cruising she is doing she gets bumps, scratches and bruises daily.  So- as you will see in the pictures below- she is sporting a nice cut on her lip and a little bruise on her forehead. Such a sweet little mess!  Eric and I are so excited to be celebrating Grafton's first Christmas this year and feel more blessed than ever!

Playtime

Grafton is doing so well at standing up on her own and also walking behind her toys. She is already so hard to keep up with these days but especially now that she is cruising around everywhere!  Unfortunately she loves the stairs and loves going up them...so I guess it is time to invest in a baby gate.  Here are a few pictures of playtime last night and this morning-